Politics Latin America

by O'Toole, Gavin

• ISBN13: 9781405821292
• ISBN10: 1405821299
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-05-06
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

Politics Latin America Gavin O'Toole If Latin America is famous for anything, it is for the rebellious temperament of its people. From this turbulent region of the world have emerged global symbols of both revolutionary struggle and reactionary brutality some of history's most romantic icons, from Simoacute;n Boliacute;var to Che Guevara, as well as some of the most stereotypical dictators, such as Rafael Trujillo and Augusto Pinochet. But why is Latin America important in the study of politics, why has it taken so long to achieve democracy, and how can this achievement be interpreted? Politics Latin America explores the unique circumstances that have shaped political evolution in this captivating region of 20 independent countries and examines the exciting new phase in politics now underway there. For the first time, almost an entire region of the developing world suffering from significant levels of poverty and inequality is organized under democratic government. The book explores why it has taken so long to achieve democracy in Latin America and how this development can be interpreted, while also equipping students to tackle major issues of global politics by: providing theoretical tools for analysing key contemporary themes such as democratization, institution-building or US foreign policy; offering novel insights from Latin America's experience as a laboratory for political and economic experiments; allowing examination of relations between countries from different cultural and political traditions enjoying starkly different levels of development; illustrating the stresses and strains which can affect all democracies. Latin American democracy has been, and in many places is still being, hard won: power has often been misused and institutions have frequently failed. The construction of strong, stable institutions is now of paramount importance to the region's future. Gavin O'Toole's novel approach to Latin American politics puts these institutions at the very heart of the discipline, and provides insights into both this fascinating region and global political trends. Gavin O'Toole is an academic and a journalist. He has taught Latin American politics and democratic theory at Queen Mary, University of London, and held seminars at Birkbeck College and the former Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) in London. He is currently Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London.

Author Biography

Gavin O'Toole Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London

Table of Contents

List of figures, tables and boxes	p. xiv
Preface	p. xxi
Acknowledgments	p. xxv
Acronyms and abbreviations	p. xxix
Introduction	p. 1
An introduction to Latin American history	p. 9
From Independence to the 1930s	p. 11
Introduction	p. 11
Independence	p. 13
From anarchy to neocolonialism	p. 18
The birth of mass politics	p. 30
Summary	p. 33
From the 1930s to the 1980s	p. 37
Introduction	p. 37
The Great Depression	p. 38
Populism	p. 45
The Cold War	p. 47
Military regimes	p. 52
Guerrillas	p. 56
The triumph of democracy	p. 58
Summary	p. 59
An introduction to the new era	p. 63
Introduction	p. 63
North America	p. 63
Mexico	p. 64
Central America and the Caribbean	p. 66
Guatemala	p. 67
El Salvador	p. 69
Honduras	p. 70
Nicaragua	p. 71
Costa Rica	p. 72
Panama	p. 74
Cuba	p. 75
Dominican Republic	p. 77
Haiti	p. 78
South America	p. 80
Venezuela	p. 83
Colombia	p. 84
Ecuador	p. 86
Peru	p. 87
Bolivia	p. 89
Brazil	p. 90
Paraguay	p. 92
Chile	p. 93
Uruguay	p. 94
Argentina	p. 95
Institutions, processes and actors	p. 101
Democratization	p. 103
Introduction	p. 103
Democracy	p. 104
Democracy in Latin America	p. 106
How do we explain democratization?	p. 108
Factors that contribute to regime change	p. 111
Political factors	p. 112
Economic factors	p. 114
International factors	p. 114
Consolidation and the quality of democracy	p. 116
Summary	p. 119
Challenges facing democracy	p. 123
Introduction	p. 123
Political challenges to democratic consolidation	p. 124
The rule of law and judicial reform	p. 134
Civil-military relations	p. 140
Economic challenges to democratic consolidation	p. 142
Citizenship	p. 147
Summary	p. 149
The presidency	p. 154
Introduction	p. 154
Key characteristics of the presidency	p. 156
Presidential powers	p. 159
Interrupted presidencies	p. 161
Presidentialism versus parliamentarianism, and semi-presidential systems	p. 168
Summary	p. 172
Legislatures, parties, the judiciary and public administration	p. 176
Introduction	p. 176
Legislatures	p. 177
Parties and party systems	p. 181
The judiciary	p. 189
Public administration	p. 195
Decentralization	p. 198
Summary	p. 205
Established political actors	p. 209
Introduction	p. 209
Trades unions	p. 211
Peasants	p. 215
The military	p. 221
The Church	p. 226
Summary	p. 231
Civil society and emergent political actors	p. 235
Introduction	p. 235
Social movements	p. 237
Indigenous movements	p. 242
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)	p. 250
Business	p. 253
Media	p. 256
Summary	p. 261
International relations	p. 267
Inter-state relations within Latin America	p. 269
Introduction	p. 269
Responses to US Power	p. 270
Policy options	p. 278
Summary	p. 291
The US and Latin America	p. 295
Introduction	p. 295
The Cold War	p. 296
Perspectives on US-Latin American Relations	p. 298
Policy objectives	p. 299
The future of US policy towards Latin America	p. 313
Summary	p. 318
Latin America, Europe and Asia	p. 322
Introduction	p. 322
Relations with Europe	p. 323
Relations with the Asia-Pacific region	p. 335
Summary	p. 339
Political ideas	p. 343
Left and Right	p. 345
Introduction	p. 345
Formative themes	p. 346
Ideas and themes on the Left	p. 352
Ideas and themes on the Right	p. 370
Summary	p. 381
Identities: nationalism, race and feminism	p. 385
Introduction	p. 385
Nationalism	p. 386
Racial and ethnic themes	p. 394
Feminism	p. 405
Summary	p. 411
Economic ideas	p. 417
Structuralism and dependency	p. 419
Introduction	p. 419
From export-led growth to industrialization	p. 420
Dependency approaches	p. 433
Summary	p. 437
Neoliberalism	p. 441
Introduction	p. 441
The debt crisis	p. 442
Policy tools	p. 445
Globalization	p. 452
Criticisms of neoliberalism	p. 458
Summary	p. 465
Redistributive models	p. 469
Introduction	p. 469
Socialism and the Cuban model	p. 470
Populist models	p. 479
Neostructuralism	p. 484
Summary	p. 494
Appendices	p. 499
Glossary	p. 501
Dramatis personae	p. 525
Bibliography	p. 536
Index	p. 572
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